As we said, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited is also good value, if you’re prepared to dig deep. Paying £76.45 for three years use is equivalent to paying £2.12 a month, or, if you’re really made of money, then £152.92 will net you a lifetime subscription. The standard monthly price of £7.64 doesn’t compare as well, but £45.88 for 1 year (equivalent to £3.82 a month) is slightly better than others.
The ongoing saga of Facebook data harvesting and the implementation of the GDPR has personal privacy online as a hot topic once again. One common method for protecting yourself online is the use of a Virtual Private Network — or VPN for short. It allows you to safely send information when using public networks via a group of networked computers and faraway servers. Not all VPNs are the same, however, so we took some time to find the best VPN services.
As we previously noted, we don’t recommend relying on our picks to get around geographic restrictions on copyrighted content. The practice is likely illegal, and it violates the terms of service of your ISP, VPN, and content provider. On top of that, it often doesn’t work—we couldn’t access Netflix over any of the services we tried, and of the four streams we loaded on BBC iPlayer, only two worked a few days later.
You've heard the advice before: Whether you're in the office or on the road, a VPN is one of the best ways to protect yourself on the internet. But how effective are VPNs? What's the best one for you? What are the downsides? Our executive guide aims to answer all your VPN-related questions -- including a few you probably haven't thought about before.
In the UK, both HTTP and FTP downloads came in at around 9.5MB/s (76Mbit/s). Our FTP tests in the Netherlands were a zippy 10.6MB/s (84.8Mb/s) and HTTP downloads were a little slower, but still quick at 7.3MB/s (58.4Mb/s). Windscribe’s U.S. connection speeds were among the fastest we’ve seen at 6.9MB/s (55.2Mb/s) over FTP and 5.6MB/s (44.8Mb/s) via HTTP.
VPN was not the first technology to make remote connections. Several years ago, the most common way to connect computers between multiple offices was by using a leased line. Leased lines, such as ISDN (integrated services digital network, 128 Kbps), are private network connections that a telecommunications company could lease to its customers. Leased lines provided a company with a way to expand its private network beyond its immediate geographic area. These connections form a single wide-area network (WAN) for the business. Though leased lines are reliable and secure, the leases are expensive, with costs rising as the distance between offices increases.
Adding VPN capabilities to your network isn't a decision to take lightly, although in this 24 x 7 day and age, you might find a VPN implementation impossible to avoid as users demand external access to your network. Just remember: A VPN adds access, not security, to your network. Think of a VPN as just another potential vector for intruders attempting to access your network or information. Done right, a VPN can improve your company's communications and still keep your network safe. So when you take the plunge, use the security checklist that Figure 3 shows to make sure you've done the research and preparation. That way, your VPN won't turn into a Virtual Public Network or your Very Personal Nightmare.
Probably PPTP's biggest advantage is that it lets you create an easy and inexpensive VPN between two Windows computers (e.g., in a RAS or Routing and Remote Access connection). PPTP also doesn't have the NAT-related problems that I mentioned earlier and works with non-TCP/IP protocols such as IPX. So if you're on a tight budget and you need minimal security, PPTP is certainly better than nothing. But even the budget conscious have other alternatives. Windows XP and Windows 2000 support IPSec natively, and I recommend it over PPTP.
This was technically #8 in the ranking, but after we saw it mentioned positively so many times in Reddit discussions, we decided to bump it up. Private Internet Access VPN, otherwise known as PIA, attempts to give off reliability vibes with its home page (children on bikes was an interesting choice), which some might feel conned by. However, we've gathered that Redditors believe that this wasn't a farce, and that it's actually a super trustworthy option. It was Mashable's top choice too, due to the fact that it comes with a ton of user-friendly features and doesn't kill your device to install. However, it's not the most aesthetically pleasing interface of the bunch, and some users mention that they had to switch VPNs simply because of that. But if you don't care about the looks so much as server reliability, variety of features, and speed, it's a good choice. Reddit user KaiForceOne writes:
ExpressVPN is among the most secure VPN services even in 2018. It has a checked DNS leak protection, including the IPv4, IPv6 and WebRTC address protocols. That is very important as it stops any data to be sniffed and stolen by third parties. ExpressVPN has a strong encryption, besides which, the company also covers the latest standards in terms of security. OpenVPN encryption is also supported, allowing for an excellent level of security to be maintained.

Torrents get a bad rap, and if we’re honest, that’s for good reason. Using torrents is the number one way to download pirated material including movies, TV shows, music, and games. But that’s not all there is to torrenting. It’s a very efficient way to download legitimate software such as Linux distributions and authorized content from sites such as BitTorrent Now.

While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.

With regards to pricing, Surfshark tends to be incredibly cost-effective and wallet-friendly. The monthly plan starts off with incredibly high pricing at $11.95 and its a bit of a bummer. But the plans with longer subscription durations are priced much more reasonably. For instance, the 6-months plan, gives you a 65% discount, reducing the pricing to $8.99 per month. If you go for the yearly plan, you only pay $5.99 per month, which totals to $71.88 every 12-months. The best part of all: you have a 30-day refund guarantee available.
If your VPN manages to shift your IP address, it does not mean you receive complete anonymity. Many rookie users are not aware that DNS Leaks are equally dangerous. They can easily expose your identity to your local ISP. To ensure ZenMate is safe to use, we performed a separate DNS Leak Test. From the results below, you can see only a single DNS server is visible. It is from Switzerland (the server we connected to).
The practical uses for a VPN service are plentiful. Want to access a website that your ISP has blocked? A VPN puts that website just one click away. Want to access the US version of Netflix from the UK? Just set your VPN to a US location and you're there. Want to access porn without your ISP or your business knowing about it? Want to download torrents without being blocked by your ISP? It's easy.
Installing and configuring ProtonVPN’s Windows client was simple enough and it provided some of the best in-use statistics. Performance was at the lower end of our comparison group at 39 Mb/s down and 18 Mb/s up, compared to our usual 125 Mb/s down and 18 Mb/s up. Netflix was blocked, but Amazon Prime Video and our other test services connected without a hitch.
Most services provide perfectly adequate internet speed when in use, and can even handle streaming HD video. However, 4K video and other data-intensive tasks like gaming over a VPN are another story. Some VPN services, such as NordVPN, have started to roll out specialty servers for high-bandwidth activities. And nearly every service we have tested includes a tool to connect you with the fastest available network. Of course, you can always limit your VPN use to when you're not on a trusted network.
It's easy to want to find the perfect, magical tool that will protect you from all possible threats. But the honest truth is that if someone targets you specifically and is willing to put forward the effort, they will get to you. A VPN can be defeated by malware on your device, or by analyzing traffic patterns to correlate activity on your computer to activity on the VPN server. But using security tools like a VPN ensure that you won't be an easy target, or get scooped up in mass surveillance.
Hi Douglas, I don't want you to publish my previous comment particularly, I'm not trying to attack their company, the comment was mainly for your information - given your comment about ease of use. I finally got it connecting after reinstalling both NordVPN and Avast, then adding exceptions, with all the previously mentioned config mods having been made. I installed the software on a Windows 10 machine, and it still required some mods, but was easier than Windows 7. cheers Nathan
A Mobile VPN is a worthwhile tool to have since it increases privacy, user satisfaction and productivity, while also reducing unforeseen support issues caused by wireless connectivity problems. The increasing usage of mobile devices and wireless connectivity make it more important to ensure that your data is being transferred through a secure network. It will allow you to access the internet, while staying safe behind a firewall that protects your privileged information.